The "Iron Shield" exercise carried out by the Qatari Emiri Land Forces in co-operation with the Turkish forces ended. The exercise was held Under the patronage of HE the Minister of State for Defence Affairs Khalid bin Mohamed al-Attiyah. HE the Chief of Staff of Qatar Armed Forces Major General (Pilot) Ghanim bin Shaheen al-Ghanim was present on the concluding day of the exrecise.

The Director of the Directorate of Moral Guidance at the Ministry of Defence Lt Colonel Nawaf bin Mubarak bin Saif al-Thani, said in a press release that the exercise was held at Camp Al Dahiliyat to prepare the Emiri Land Forces to defend the country's lands and vital economic, strategic and infrastructure facilities.

The commander of the exercise, Brigadier Hadi Rashid al-Shahwani, said that "Iron Shield" included training of leaders to assess the situation, planning, control and co-ordination between the units of the Qatari Emiri Land Forces and the Turkish forces to stop and prevent infiltrations and regain control of the situation in vital areas.

The "Iron Shield" exercise was carried out in three stages: planning and preparation, then command center exercise and finally the briefing and lessons learned.

The military exercise comes on the basis of prior agreements within the framework of bilateral defence co-operation between Qatar and Turkey to support counter-terrorism efforts, extremism and smuggling operations as well as to maintain security and stability in the region.

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